Thursday, January 12, 2012

Strange Disappointments

For as long as I can remember, I've been a fan of old, black and white movies. I acquired a fascination for Humphrey Bogart sometime around my 13th birthday and the infatuation has held strong throughout the years.

“I was born when you kissed me. I died when you left me. I lived a few weeks while you loved me.”
-Humphrey Bogart

My mother, one of the few people with knowledge of my secret love affair with Bogart, gifted me with a book which held facts about famous leading men. I was so excited, flipping through the pages to find Humphrey's chapter. Then, it happened. His STATS, written out in black and white.

Height: 5'8"

What. The. Hell. was my initial response. No, no...this can't be true. In all the years I'd watched his movies, I never thought to look up anything about him other than quotes and maybe who he'd married.

I'm not sure why this disappointments me so much. I'll be the first to admit it's strange to feel like I've been told a lie every time I sat down to drool over one of his movies. I think it's criminal, somehow, for this man not to have been blessed with a 6'+ body, he certainly had the strong personality to carry it.

I remember also being shocked by how short Tom Cruise is, back when anyone cared about anything relating to Tom Cruise. Every time someone I find intriguing is confirmed to be of a height, I breathe a silent breath of relief and subtly warm towards them just a bit more.

Maybe it's because I've always been kind of tall for a girl at almost 5'9" and I hate feeling bigger than anyone, especially men. It's surely unfair of me to be so judgmental about something a person has absolutely no control over. Yet, I'm more inclined to forgive Cruise for being an insane Scientologist than for being so damn short.

Do you have something like this? Something strange that bothers you for no good reason, but bothers you all the same?